After 10 days of racing in the 2014 Two-handed Round Britain and Ireland Race, and four legs of the race, barely more than 2 hours 20 minutes separates the top three monohulls on corrected time.




Two-handed round britain and Ireland race 2014: competitors

Two-handed round britain and Ireland race 2014: the participating sailors


As the eight monohulls and four catamarans leave Lowestoft for the finish in Plymouth, Richard Palmer and Trevor Drew’s J/109 'Jangada Too' leads the monohull fleet, 20 minutes ahead of the Humphreys 36 'Zest' (Kass Schmitt and Rupert Holmes), with Alfred Zahn and Jan Schoepe’s Swiss Bongo 9.62 'Insomnix' two hours further back on corrected time.


In the battle for line honours, Michel Kleinjans and Alexis Guillaume’s Class 40 'Brusails for Belgium' is leading the pack, with a commanding lead on Will Claxton and Matt Gill’s lightweight trimaran 'Paradox'.


Update: Brusails of Brussels finished at 03:57:51 on 20 June.




The two-handed round britain and ireland race: start

The two-handed round britain and ireland race fleet gathered at the start off Plymouth on 1 June


So far the fleet has experienced fast and furious predominately downwind sailing, in winds of up to 40 knots. However, that is predicted to change for the final leg, with very light breezes, especially on the northern side of the Channel. Routing software is recommending crossing to the French side of the Channel until west of the Cherbourg peninsula, but that would be a big call, compared to the safe option of staying north. The signs are that this 2,000 mile race will be won or lost in the last 300 miles.


To keep up with the live positions, see: www.rwyc.org




Two-handed round britain and ireland race second-placed crew in IRC overall

Two-handed round britain and ireland race second-placed crew in IRC overall: Kass Schmidt and Rupert Holmes aboard Humphreys 36, Zest

Written by: Rupert Holmes
Rupert Holmes has more than 70,000 miles of offshore cruising and racing experience, in waters ranging from the North Sea to the Southern Ocean and Cape Horn. He writes about all aspects of boat ownership and marine travel, including destinations, seamanship and maintenance, as well as undertaking regular new boat and gear tests. He currently sails around 5,000 miles per year and in the past couple of seasons has cruised from the UK to the Azores, as well as winning his class in the 2014 two-handed Round Britain and Ireland Race. He also owns two yachts, one based in the Mediterranean and the other in the UK.